Thankful #1

Today, I am SUPER DUBER excited and thankful that my mom's surprise 40th bday went well! I'm so thankful that the Lord helped all of us to watch what we said and help pull this thing together!!!

I'm soo thankful for my mom!

-Emily

I know I know...

I KNOW I just posted yesterday that I was taking a blogging break...Buuuut, I was thinking about November starting on Saturday and I'd like to do something for the month of November.

Since I figured out what I want to do, meaning I won't be thoughtless, and it's something that won't take but 2 minutes to post online, I think it is doable.

So my idea is to, every day in the month of November, post something I am thankful for. I also may add a Psalm here and there. Well, that's my plan for November.

--Emily

Blog Break...

I'm soo sorry everyone, but I need to take another blog break. Last time it was so I could revamp my blog...

This time it's because I really need to be doing other things. I work soon to be back to 4 days a week, but it's coming into the holidays, and by the end of November I'll probably be working more.

I've been getting behind in my school some and I really need to focus most of my attention to that so I can get done early like I wanted to. This is my senior year, and I want to be finished up by the end of April.

Also, I feel like no one is reading my blog when no one comments. I know some of you do, but after a week or two I get discouraged about it.

My final reason is that I just haven't had any good thoughts about posting. I need to get my schooling done and then I might come back before Christmas and do a study, but I'm not sure yet. If not, then I will be back January 1st with a schedule that I WILL stick to.

Thank you and if you want to email me my email is volleyball_penguin13@yahoo.com. I usually check it daily, but I might go to every other day soon.

Thanks so much for understanding!

-Emily

Thoughtless

Okay, so I don't know why I haven't had much on my mind lately. I guess it has been my overwhelming amount of being around other godly people. Last Saturday I went to a Ladies Conference and a somewhat neighboring Church. I went to 4 different classes. They were all really good!

The 1st one I went to was Child Rearing 101. It was really interesting and I think it will help me to understand things a little better when I have children.

The 2nd one I went to was called Meals in Minutes. It was really fun. We learned about different ways to cut prep time, and ideas for shopping and storing things. Even how to organize your fridge and freezer.

The 3rd class I went to was called Home Decorating 101. It was really good as well of course. Two ladies were in charge of the class. One of them would read or talk about something spiritual, and the second would show us different decorating tips to go along with the theme we learned in the small lesson.

The 4th class was called Superwoman Syndrome. It was all about motherhood, and other things just juggling everything. But it gave really helpful hints and thoughts on lots of different mothering things.

It was a great time!

-Emily

Pray for Missionaries

Hey everyone,

I have a prayer request for a guy from my church. He is going into the mission field for 8 days to the Philippines. He will be leaving Friday night and will be coming home next Saturday sometime. He and 2 other men will be preaching to pastors in the Philippines. Please pray for these 5 things he has requested...

1] The pastors that will be attending.
2] Transportation connections.
3] The health of him and the 2 other men.
4] The other people that will be attending the conferences.
5] Safe travel for the people that will be attending. There will be people traveling for many hours [4 or more] JUST to hear a day of conferences.

There is one more prayer request and that is for his wife and 4 young children. Plus the one on the way. His wife has been having sickness in her pregnancy and it'd be great if she would be better while he is gone.

Thanks for praying!!!

-Emily

Paying for college

So of course if I want to go to BJU for college I'm going to have to come up with money. I have a job and am saving that way, I also have a savings account and lots of savings bonds. Buuut, it'd be nice to have a little extra money as well.

Brickfish is a website that has lots of different campaigns in which if you win, you can earn money and/or scholarships.

I have started to put pictures on there in different photography contests. I'd appreciate it GREATLY if you would go on here and vote for my pictures!! Thanks!!!

-Emily

Ephesians 4 Prayer

One night in room devos while down at BJU the one girl used these passages of Scripture to get a point across. It was really good.

Paul is explaining some things in the beginning of the chapter and goes on in verse 14 saying he is caused to bow his knees and pray. Here is his prayer for us.

Ephesians 4:16 - That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.
17 - That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 - May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 - And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with the fullness of God.
20 - Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
21 - Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughoutall ages, world without end. Amen.

Paul is praying for us that we...
...would be stengthened by the Lord.
...may have Christ dwell in our hearts.
...may comprehend the breadth, length, depth, and height of Christ's love.
...may be filled with the fullness of God.

Because God's can do exceeding abundantly above ALL that we ask or think.

Lauren challenged us to pray for each other in this way. She talked a lot about how the Lord can do exceeding abundantly more than what we ask. It was really encouraging to remember the Lord CAN do all things.

I am going to encourage/challenge you like she challenged us, pray for your friends in this manner. Pray that they would be strengthened by the Lord, that they would have Christ dwell in their hearts, that they may comprehend each angle of Christ's amazing love, and that they may be filled with the fullness of God.

Saturday's Trip Home [and a few other things]

So Saturday's trip home was fun. I sat with new people and got to know a few more people, as well as Matthew told more stories about China and lots of other things. I think the bus ride is always one of my favorite things. After we dropped the other kids off and had the rest of the almost 3 hour ride back to our stop, Matthew talked to me for a while about college and let me read the The Rebelution article on college and why they decided to go. It really is only 4 [unless you go more] years of your life. It can only better a person. So there's not much to loose.

Also, hmm...This week has been kind of uneventful. Sunday a whole bunch of people were sparatically at my house. Monday -Thursday was pretty much just work and school. Today is going to be different though.

After work we have co-op and then I'm going shopping with my friend. Then she is spending the night, we are planning on watching "Facing the Giants" and "Though None Go With Me" tonight. Tomorrow is a ladies retreat at a semi-ly local Church. They have a one-day ladies retreat every other year and always invite our Church to attend. This is the first year I will be going and I'm REALLY excited!!

Well, that's all the updates I guess...

-Emily

Friday at BJU

Soooo Friday, long day. Lots of thoughts and thinking going on.

I went to breakfast at 7:30am with my mom, my friend, and her mom. After breakfast, Gail and I went to a class with Lauren called Fundamentals of Counseling. It was REALLY really good! I learned a lot of stuff in that class about hands on your face meaning you aren't really interested. I also learned a little about judging others and not becoming a stumbling block for others. Also not judging others convictions. One thing that was really good was the fact that we should be willing to sacrifice our freedoms for the good of others.

After that I went back the the dorms and talked to Heather for a while. We got ready for society and I went to her society she is in. It was fun. We played a few games.

Following that we had a special luncheon for us vistors.

I went to Educational Psychology with Heather and her mom. It was really interesting. I learned a lot about how people think differently and a little about diversity. How we should not be extreme to the point of pointing out others and distancing ourselves, but also not pretending that there is no diversity among us. I also learned a little about teaching others and how you should get to know them and compare things in their everyday life to things Scripture talks about.

My mom, Gail, and I went to the bookstore after class and I got 3 books. I got Authentic Beauty and Set Apart Femininity by Leslie Ludy. I also got Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney.

Then we went to the Gallery and Museum and checked out more of the paintings. We didn't get through it, but we got through at least 1/2 or so. I could spend all day in there looking at the paintings.

We all went for supper at 5 again, and following that I went back to Heather's room and got some things together for when I would get back. We then went to the soccer game. We watched a little over 1/2 and then my mom called around 8 when the Symphony was over. We went to the FastBreak and got some milkshakes and things. I ran into Crystal and watched the volleyball game with her for a little while. I then went back to the dorms and got ready for bed as well as getting packed for the morning.

As I was thinking and pondering over my day I thought really hard about what I think the Lord wants me to do. I prayed about it telling Him that I want to do His will and not my own. I had been planning on making up my own Home-Making program and learning about home-making my own way, but I realized I wouldn't have enough spiritual and emotional help as I would going to college down there. So I now plan on going down there to get structure and a good foundational spiritual base. It's going to be complicated and hard at times, but the Lord is good and He will provide in all the ways I need.

--Emily

Thursday at BJU

First of all, sorry I did not post yesterday. I was on here MULTIPLE times yesterday and just never remembered that, "oh hey, I need to make a post." My mind was not all here yesterday.

Thursday -
I got up after 7am sometime and got ready to go meet my admissions couselor and the group to eat Grab 'n' Go breakfast. After breakfast we went for a tour of campus. We got to see almost all of the buildings and it helped me really get a grasp on everything. I had been there before, but somehow this trip was more helpful.

After the tour I went back to my dorm room and got ready for Chapel. Dr. Bob Jones III did the teaching which was really cool, because he doesn't preach all that often any more. So while getting ready for Chapel there were a few problems...My mom and Gail lost each other. My mom finally came in and the head of the trip, Lisa, directed her to me and she was in a panick because she thought Gail missed Chapel. They finally found each other during lunch...Quite a fun experience. LoL!

After Chapel I went with Heather to get a Grab 'n' Go lunch to take back to the dorms to eat and then went with her to a literature class. It was pretty interesting. I learned at little bit about how to read into and fully understand a story.

Following that class we met up with my mom and Gail and went to the Life of Christ class with Heather. It was really interesting. We learned a lot about the birth of Christ and how so often we learn things that aren't fully correct.

Later we went on a tour we had signed up for in the Museum and Gallery. It was really really neat. We had a tour guide and she showed us how to read into the paintings and helped us understand. We weren't able to look at everything, so we decided to go back on Friday.

Next was supper. We all met at the girls bathroom and ate supper together.

Then we had to get ready for "The Main Event." I have been to College Up Close before, so I knew what the Main Event was. We started out play a game called "Are you smarter than a Counselor." Following that we played hocker. For those of you that don't know what hocker is...Well, if you are like me, you would probably not prefer it, but if you are competitive and like a lot of action and chaios...Then you would probably enjoy it a lot! After the games we went and had a snack of fruit and frozen slush things. We got to talk to a lot of the counselors and amongst ourselves for a while. Then they did a cool skit, sang songs, and Matthew did a devotion time. It was all really good.

After that I went back to my dorm room, got a shower and all ready for bed, and then we fit...60. people in our small dorm room. Crazy, I know. We had a WHOLE hall devotion/meeting thing. What she taught about was GREAT though! I'll be making a special post just for the room devos I heard later.

Well, that is the end of Thursday.

--Emily

Bob Jones University College Trip

Wow. I don't even know where to begin. So I guess the beginning would be the best? We had a ton of fun on the trip. My mom went with me, along with two guys from my Church and one of the boy's mom, and then two boys from co-op.

Wednesday - So we had to get up [others got up earlier] about 4:30. I got out of bed about 4:50am. We left our house at 5:30am to go meet the bus. We were the first stop out of two, so we kinda got the goods on picking seats and stuff. When we arrived at McDonalds and were waiting for the bus one of my friends from my aunt's Church arrived! So I was glad to know an extra person! It was about at 2 and 1/2 hour to 3 hour drive to our second stop. The rest of the bus ride down to SC was really long and seemed to go on forever. It was a TON of fun though it seemed long! Matthew was our 'guide' and he majored in Humanities at the college. This past summer he had been to China teaching English because you can not be a missionary in China. He told us all kinds of stories about China and a ton of other places that he visited this summer.



We arrived at the college about 9:30 or so and had the little introduction thing and got assigned to our rooms and were told what we were to do for the next few days. I was SOOO excited to see my friend Heather there!! It was so much fun! I stayed with her in her dorm room and her roommates were SOO nice! The Lord is definitely loving in putting the roommates he did in her room. We had room devos Wednesday night and Thursday night. I will fill you in on those later because I'm forgetting a few things and need to call my friend...



Well that was my adventure for Wednesday. I think I'll just post about one day each day this week. So tomorrow we will talk about Thursday.



--Emily

Leaving

Alrighty everyone...

I am going to BJU from Wednesday at early time [5:30am] until Saturday night. I'm going down for the college days trip along with my mom and a few others. I'll be staying with my friend which I'm super excited about!

I have had a great experience everytime I have been there and I know this one will be great as well. Pray for safe travels if you think about it.

Well, I'll try to post Saturday or if I'm too tired then Sunday afternoon.

Love you all!!

-Emily

Thoughtless...

I don't normally have a problem thinking of something really good to post...But today I'm having a hard time thinking straight.

I guess I'll just ask you all to pray for me. I'm going through a struggle and I'd appreciate prayer!

Thanks!

-Emily

Revival

From yesterday until Wednesday we are having Revival at my Church with the Wyler family.

They are such a blessing. Two of their children are in Florida, one is married and one is at PCC. They have three children still with them. They share in music and preaching and are also sharing a story about Ma Sunday.

Something I have been thinking about since he said it was about flossing. He talked about how flossing is really gross, you put a string in your mouth and clean out between your teeth and when you pull it out there is all kinds of yuck on it. He told us that we need to also do that with our spiritual life. We need to floss out the bad stuff. Yes, it will not be fun nor pleasant, but it is for our own benefit.

-Emily

Saturday

Wow. Where does the time go?!?! It is 11 after 11 and I'm getting ready to go to bed, but I wanted to make sure I got a post in today!

My mind is blank and thinking of sleep so I will just reflect on my day.

This morning I had to be at work at 7am. It's about a 15 minute drive, and I woke up at... 6:30. I had 15 minutes to get out of bed, get dressed, eat breakfast, wash face, brush teeth, and put make-up [little] on. It was CRAZY! I will say one thing, being a late sleeper most times, I HAVE learned to get ready in 15 minutes or less. Sometimes thats good thing, others it's just horrible.

So I worked from 7am to 1pm. Had a decent day working. I thought I would HATE working on Saturday, but it ended up not being very busy and I had decently pleasant customers. The Lord definitely knows what days I just need that pleasantness!

After work I got home and watched TV with my brother. VERY ADDICTING!!!!! My mom got home and decided to tell me at 4 that we were going out to eat. .... Oh. Dad didn't tell me... Sooo, I thought about if I wanted to go or not, and figured I need to spend more time with my whole family. So I went touched up my appearance and we left for Red Lobster. This was the first time I had ever eaten there. I was kind of worried because 1. I do not care for seafood, and 2. I'm a decently picky eater [though I have been reaching out in some areas.] So I ordered the 'Cajun Chicken Linguine Alfredo.' It was VERY good actually. I tried a bite of my dad's salmon, because I'm trying to like seafood.

After we ate we went and dropped Dad and Jess off at Gander Mountian and my Mom and I went to the mall. Wow! God definitely blessed me with a GREAT shopping time with my mom. I can't remember the last time [probably because it would have been before I had any 'taste'] that my mom and I agreed on clothing items. I got to pick three things out and it was a super successful on the spot shopping trip. I got to talk to my friend that is going to college at BJU and asked her a few questions because I'm going for a college up close trip next week!

Hmm...we got home I turned the TV on and we watched the Palin/Biden rerun debate. I missed it the first time around and WOW Palin is a very good person on the spot as well as I agree with a TON of her opinions and thoughts.

Well, it is now 20 after 11 and I need to go to bed. That was an overview of my day.

--Emily

One DOES Make a Difference

In Elections class last week Mrs.Shawley mentioned something about people that don't vote. Her comment was along the lines of people think that they are only one vote, and that one vote doesn't make a difference.

Well, yes, that is true, but with a LOT of people that think that way it DOES make a difference. You have one person saying that they don't believe one vote matters, and then another person thinking I think thats true, and stop voting themselves, then that can lead to a lot of people not voting.

I was thinking today, how we as Christians often have that same view on witnessing. Well, it's just me, not telling someone isn't going to make a difference. But seeing as how many people can have that same thought [or people having the fear of man] many of us don't witness to others as we should.

Just a few more thoughts in my random mind. Hope you liked it!

Heart Motives

What does the Bible say about the heart? It says it is deceitful and wicked. [Jeremiah 17:9]

So why do we listen to our heart is so many areas of our life? The Bible specifically says that it is deceitful. Would you listen to someone if you knew that they always lied? I know I wouldn't.

We often are in a subjective mode. Subjective means to decide something based on feelings or what your heart tells you. We need to have an objective view on life. Objective means that it does not include heart feelings but that it is based solely on facts. Facts are objective.

I find myself often times listening to what my heart says and not really asking God for help. I've been realizing this a lot in my life lately. So my new 'resolution' is to always look for my motive for doing something. Why am I calling this person? Why am I going to this place? Why am I reading this? Anything you can think of, I'm trying to get a question for everything I do. I don't want to do something in vain [meaning empty or pointless] I want to do things with a purpose.

Hope you enjoyed my random thoughts.

Link[ed]

Okay, so I'm starting a little thing called "Link[ed]". The point of it is to get you on others blogs! I love expanding my regular blogging reads and figured you might enjoy some that I read.

I'm turning you all to Sarah Modene's blog today. She posted this last week and it really applied to me. I also thought it was pretty interesting.

Hope you enjoy!!

-Emily

Butterfly

So comes the time of the year when butterflies are everywhere. So a few weeks ago we had a few caterpillars in our old fish tank. We put milk weed in it and a few sticks. We ended up giving a few away to younger kids that wanted to see the process. We had two left. We missed them going into the chrysalis but today, after almost 2 weeks of waiting, they came out of their chrysalis and I got to witness the first one!!! Here are a few pictures and a few videos. I will say that a butterfly has to have a lot of perseverance to come out of the chrysalis. It was soooo cool!! It reminded me that even though it's hard to go through life as a Christian, we need to have perseverance to get through our trials, just like a butterfly! In the end, it will be beautiful.

Here's a picture of the butterfly literally seconds before it started to hatch out.

I was going to post a video of the butterfly coming out of the cocoon, but it was taking a really long time...sooo here are a few pictures...[I will post the video next week sometime]

This is what it looked like after it dried off.

And here is a little 'photoshoot' we did with it...

Whenever you see a butterfly this week think of how much perseverance it had and how beautiful it looks now. Remember the butterfly when you go through struggles and remember to persevere through the hard times because the end will be fruitful!

20 Things I Love About Fall

Last Monday was the first day of fall and I read a few blogs that had welcomed fall. So I wanted to post 20 things that I like about fall...

20 Things I Love About Fall

1) Crisp mornings

2) Colorful leaves

3) Bundling Up

4) Cool sunny evenings

5) A warm house

6) Fog in the mornings

7) Pumpkin pie

8) Hot soup

9) Slowing down of my schedule

10) Butterflies

11) Getting ready for the holidays

12) Smell of baked goods

13) Changing of the seasons

14) Seeing my breath

15) Fall decorations

16) Apple cider

17) Fun socks and slippers

18) Fall flowers

19) Earthy toned colors

20) Hay bales

The Past Few Weeks...

So I stopped posting on September 5th. I'll start with that week.

September 2nd we got DirectTV which has been good and bad. It's a big distraction when there are other things I should be doing.

September 3rd through the 7th was the Jubilee. I went with a friend from work on the 3rd and we had a lot of fun. I also went on Saturday with my dad and brother. Sunday after Church my brother and I went. It was a lot of fun! But I took NO pictures! I need to charge my small camera so I can take pictures at places like that.

September 10th was the annual Patch Club kick-off hayride with the Church. It was a lot of fun, yet I took no pictures. I've been really slacking this month...

September 12th and 13th was my cousin's wedding. Friday was dress rehearsal which went ok, other than it was kinda yucky and humid. Saturday was the wedding. It went alright, but it was a little rainy. I did not like the photographer and yea. But it was a lot better than I thought it was going to be.

Here's a picture of me walking down the isle.

The Bride and Groom

September 14th was the annual Soup Party. Wow, all I can say is the number of people attending...dropped. And the supply of soup too! We normally have a HUGE black iron pot of soup cooking allll day. Well, this year, we got a crockpot full. Haha. But with the wedding and everything the day before, that was enough food. We went on the regular hayride. It was quite hot for the Soup Party day. It is normally really cold. The hayride felt like it went on forever because it was so hot out.

September 16th I started my evening Italian class. I love my teacher and think I will actually remember most of this language. Haha.

September 17th I spent the night at Lisa's. My stays at her house are ALWAYS refreshing. Which is quite funny, because she has 4 kids. And she is pregnant again! So I'm excited for all of that.

September 19th I spent the night at Remona's. Madison and I played with Shadow and walked her around the house a few times. Oh what amuses a child at that age! [4]

September 20th we went to our farm friends house. Renee got her oldest daughter to saddle up one of the horses so my cousins Liz and Leah could ride for a little while. It was a ton of fun, for myself. I think the girls had fun riding the horse. They also go to see one of the baby goats, one of the baby cows, anddd Liz took a stab at milking a goat!! That was fun! Haha!

Later that night we went out with a homeschool family to eat. They came back to our house for dessert and lots of talking. I love listening to homeschool moms talk about different things. It gives me ideas for myself!

Wow...I didn't realize how busy I REALLY was! So all of that leads up to this week!



This past Sunday we had our Barclay family reunion. This would be my dad's father's side of the family. I don't know many of them. It was fun though and the weather was nice!

Wednesday was Church. The teen class has moved outside under the new roof that was added on to the fellowship building. Sweatshirts are nice. LoL!

Today there is not much on the agenda. I got up at 5:30 this morning and got all my school done before 11am hit. I'll be working this afternoon and then have Italian when I get home.

Tomorrow Co-op starts! I'm excited because I got someone to work for me from 1 to 3 so I can go to all the co-op classes!

Saturday is a baby shower for our previous teen leader's wife. Well, I'll update one last time this weekend before I start posting everyday startind next Monday!

-Emily

False Alarm?

Well, I THOUGHT I was going to start posting today...But I think I need one more week. I will be posting about how life has been the past couple weeks, but not right now.

Thanks for being patient!!

-Emily

Coming Back!!

I just wanted to make a quick post and let you all know that I will be back on Monday. Tomorrow I will make a post about what I have been up to this week and lots of things that have been keeping me busy. Well, I need to get to bed for now.

Till tomorrow,
Emily

Blogging Break...

Hey everyone!

I'm really sorry, but for the next week or two I'll be taking a blogging break. I really need to get some priorities straight in school and work and things around the house. So I'll be taking 2 weeks off so I can get those things straightened out and have a time slot for blogging in the morning or evening.

When I return I plan on having a weekly schedule to go by so I can post every day. Things that I plan on doing, but need to get organized are...

~Weekly recipes
~Weekly Bible Study
~Thoughts on different things about life
~Weekly series on a special subject
~Home-makers binder ideas and tips
~Monthly book give away
~Whatever else I can come up with in the two weeks I'm taking a break

Thanks to all of you who read my blog! I really enjoy when you leave comments! After a week or so of no comments I start getting discouraged.

Well, thanks again! I'll be posting in one or two weeks again!

Until then,
Emily

Things we should not say...

A family [and many others now] uses the word "issues." When their child is having a problem, they don't call it a problem, they call it an issue. The kids also say issue now because that is how they have been raised. The reason for this is that at the husband's work, they may not say they have a problem, they have an issue. Personally, I think it's a great way to stay focused positively. When you here the word problem you think, "Oh no, NOW what?" But "issue" is such a better way to put a situation. It sounds like something has gone wrong, but its on the way to being fixed.

Another family made it a rule in their house not to say, "can't." When you say you can't do something, you are automatically setting yourself up for failure. Saying you can't and won't even TRY shows that you don't have self-confidence that you can do something. I love that rule and I'm working on applying it in my life. Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me."

Just two things I've been thinking about lately and wanted to share.
Thanks for reading!
-Emily

Reader's Choice

Hey everyone! So this Monday there was a ty for Reader's Choice. So we're going to go with the pictures. I was away with my family this past weekend at our cabin. Here are a few pictures from our weekend.

The trusty truck that got us to the cabin!

Me washing dishes at the cabin...

Some random shots I took at the beach.

Running a Race

1 Corintians 9:24-27 - "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all thing. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, myself should be a castaway."

The Olympics just ended about a week ago. In Wednesday night youth group last Wednesday, our leader, Jeff, showed us this passage of Scripture. Even before Christ, the Olympics started in Greece. In these verses it is talking about running a race. Verse 25 talks about how there is one prize. When running an earthly race, the prize is corruptible, meaning that it will not last forever. When running the race for Christ we are winning prizes, but those prized are eternal and set up in Heaven for us. Verse 26 says, "So I fight, not as one that beateth the air." Here it is referring to fighting not just air practicing [this reminded me of Wii] but actually fighting to win and pushing forward. And finally verse 27 talks about keeping under my body and bringing it into subjection. This is referring to having self-control and making your body do what you want it to. Most times we just want to lay around and be lazy, but here it is talking about making ourselves do what we need to. The final phrase is, "lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." This refers to doing what you preach. If you tell others about Christ and that as a Christian you are to be like Christ, and then go off and do wrong, you are as a castaway, or disqualified from the race.

Hope you all enjoyed that!

-Emily

Quick update on my dad

Hey everyone,

Thanks to everyone who prayed for my dad! He got his blood work back and stuff and he had a mild case of hepatitis...It wasn't A or B, it was just a mild case...From some of the work he had been doing earlier this summer...

Anyway, he's feeling a lot better and is going back to work tomorrow! So praise the Lord that he is better! I was really worried because I've never seen my dad ly around on the couch all day before.

Thanks again to all who prayed!!
--Emily

New Website!

Hey everyone,

I made a new website that I will be posting on about my senior year of school. I will still be posting on this regularly, but I thought you all might be interested in what I'm learning in school.

The site is:

http://emilyschoolblog.blogspot.com/

Hope you enjoy it!!!

-Emily

P.S. -Please read the post below this about my dad.

Prayer Request

Hey everyone!

I need to ask you all a favor. My dad hasn't been feeling well since last Thursday evening. Friday he had the day off work to go to Idlewild, but he didn't go with us because he was too weak. Yesterday morning after my brother and I left for Church, my mom took him to the hospital to see what's been going on. They did blood work and things and right now we don't know what's wrong. Pray that the doctors would have wisdom and knowledge while looking at the results and be able to correctly tell us whats wrong.

I've seen my dad slightly sick with a head cold before, but he really worries me. I'm working on letting the Lord move my heart and trusting Him, but it's so hard when its a family member in pain.

Pray that my dad would get his strength back and that he would be alright!

Thank you!!!!

-Emily

Home-making

Home-making...It's exactly what it's called. Making a home. In the culture that we live in, we as women are so often told do to what you want before you get married, because otherwise you won't ever fulfill your dreams. But what if you dream IS to be a stay-at-home mom with the kids, and keeping the house, along with home schooling when your kids get to that age??

The Lord has made us a help-meet to our husbands. Genesis 2:20-24--And Adam gave names to all the cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found a help meet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

We were not made to rule over man, we were made to help our husbands.

As I have dreamt this all my life {though number of kids has started at 100 and is now down a LOT, but I'd still like to have a large family} it is SO hard to tell others that I want to be a home-maker for fear that they will turn it down and try to discourage me. As I think of that, I realize that it is a fear of man, and that I should not care what man thinks, but what God thinks.

Other passages of Scripture to look at on Biblical Womanhood examples would be Proverbs 31 and Titus 2. Also another I have found is 1 Timothy 2:9-15.

Well, those are just some insights on whats been going on in my mind! Please comment and let me know what you think!

Reader's Choice -- My Clean Room!!

My room is finally clean!!!! Here are the pictures!!

My Closet :

My Vanity Table :

My Bookshelf :
My Bed :


My School Storage Desk :

My Scrapbooking Desk :
My Stereo Shelf :

Well, there you have it! My room is clean!

There was a ty for the Reader's Choice and the other one was a random recipe. If I have time later tonight I will post a random recipe.

Room Update

I know I put Room Update in the Reader's Choice...But here is an advanced update...

I worked on cleaning out my closet...and kind of the middle

of my room....
Here it is still messy....

There is my cleaned out closet^^
My room is still messy though...
Another view of messiness ^^
And yet another...

Here is the final product of my closet ^^ So far.
^^Isn't it pretty?
The other side of my closet...I just cleaned up my bags and reorganized them.
My closet overview...IT'S CLEAN!

I still have a lot to do though...That was JUST my closet...I need to clean up my vanity desk and my scrapbooking desk...Along with my school storage desk and my bookshelf. I would LOVE to have it done by Saturday night. So that is my goal. I'll post pictures when I'm totally finished!! {Probably next Monday for Reader's Choice}

Sunday Afternoon

So Sunday afternoon a rare thing happened...My parents went to visit my great grandpap...And me and my brother GOT ALONG! We made chocolate chip cookies!! {from a bag...yes we cheated} but it was a lot of fun...My brother took pictures of me...Here are some of them...

^^Me mixing the stupid cookie dough!! That was HARD!
^^Close up of me mixing the dough
^^Close up of my face....Jesse took about 10 of that and the mixing bowl...
^^Jesse taking a stab at mixing it...

^^Eating the cookie dough from the bowl...

^^The cookies in the oven...

^^The cookies from the toaster oven...yummmmy

That was our grand-fun-get along afternoon Sunday...It was very nice and I'm glad we had fun making cookies.

-Emily

Reader's Choice -- Nature Picture

So this is a beautiful sunset I took a picture of this past week!! I love watching the sun go down!!

The Lord is good in all He does. Even simple things like a pretty sunset!

-Change-

I don't know about all of you, but I dislike change a lot. Some things are alright, but there has been a lot of change in my life that I also haven't liked.

I'll give two examples...

--Our family reunion [on my mom's side] used to ALWAYS be at Trent Park {most of you probably do not know where that is, but that's not the point}. Last year we changed it and we have it at a different place, it's just not the same...

--My friend Rex was at boot camp for the past 8 weeks. He came home and got to spend one week with all of his family and friends. He was planning/hoping to get based in Maryland or somewhere decently close to home, but guess where he got based...Alaska. Over 4,000 miles away. Talk about not getting what you want. He is excited about it though and all I can do is be a supportive friend. I think it will be a great experience for him, but we really only started getting to know each other better {we have known each other forever from Church} about 16 weeks ago...maybe a little before that. {It was a little over 8 weeks before he was going to boot camp.} That has been a change that is hard, but I think the Lord has a plan.

One change that I REALLY have a hard and difficult time on, is when I think I have possibly figured out the Lord's will for my life. Then realizing that its not going to be that way. I experienced this in the past week and it has been really hard on me, knowing that I'm probably not going to get what I wanted. But isn't that being selfish? I am working on having the right attitude through every situation, but it takes practice and determination to do that.

When the Lord IS changing something in our lives, we need to accept it and take it with a willing heart, even if it's going to be a hard struggle to get through.

{Those were just some thoughts that were running through my mind and I figured I'd post them}
-Emily

Reader's Choice -- Prayer Binder

I've been doing a devotional book called "A Young Woman's Call to Prayer" by Elizabeth George. It explains about making a "Prayer Binder." I have just stared mine and will post more about it in the future. But I'll give you a small overview.

Currently I have 3 sections. I have a prayer section, a praise section, and a specific prayer section.

In the "Prayer Section" I have all prayer requests listed. Things such as friends needs, my needs, family needs, praying for our nation, anything like that.

The "Praise Section" has a list of things I can randomly go to when I feel like nothing is right, and praise God for. I have things like specific friends, my job, weather, salvation, and anything I can be thankful for at any time.

Now the last section, "Specific Prayer" is the section I have made from lots of advice in the book. Elizabeth George mentions pick something specific that you want to think and pray about and write it at the top of a piece of paper. Following that you must ask yoursefl 4 questions. Ask each question, one by one, and write down the answers with whatever pops into your mind first.

Question 1] Why would I do this? (Remember to confess unbiblical motives)
Question 2] Why would I not do this? (Remember to rule out anything that goes against God's Word)
Question 3] Why should I do this? (Remember to look for reasons from God's Word)
Question 4] Why should I not do this? (Remember to obey and please God)

Here is a sample of my specific prayer/thought request that I've been thinking about. I answered my questions on July 29th. {I need to ask myself these questions again} The goal is to continue having different {or the same if they are correct answers} until you have a full godly prespective on the matter.

_College_

#1-Why would I do this?
Answer--It would increase my education. {decent answer}
-Heather, Lauren and Bria would like me to go. {I should probably not go JUST becacuse of this answer...}
-To find a guy to possibly marry. {This is a questionable answer. It can't be my ONLY reason, but it is not a 1/2 bad answer. My motives in finding a guy must be pure though. Such as, because it is BJU, I could find a guy that would have the same beliefs and goals as myself.}

#2-Why would I not do this?
Answer--Financial issues {this is not a proper answer, because if it is the Lord's will, He will provide}
-Too far from home {this also is not a proper answer, because the Lord will give me strength. He will help me find other friends, along with the fact that I would already have 3 down there}
-Scared/nervous {there is comfort in the Lord}

#3-Why should I do this?
Answer--To increase my knowledge of keeping a home. {because I plan on taking Family and Consumer Sciences, so it would help me in most areas of life}

#4-Why should I not do this?
Answer--If it is not the Lord's will.


That is my sample. It is straight from my notebook. It's been very challenging reading the book and knowing that I don't often turn to God before my friends. I need to keep in mind that if I run into an area of problems, I first need to pray, and THEN seek counsel of Godly friends.

I hope you all enjoyed my small insight of my prayer binder. I'll add more as it comes. I'm still not done with the book yet, so there might be more to add.

Thank you all who read my blog!!!

Growing Up

Lately I've been thinking a lot about growing up. So I thought I'd share my random thoughts about growing up with you.

Remember when you were little, and you thought you'd just NEVER get bigger, or grow up?! You always wished you could be older so you could do better things. When you were 3 or 4 you wished you were 5 so you could go to school. When you were 9 you couldn't wait to turn the double digit 10! And of COURSE when you were twelve, well you couldn't WAIT to turn 13 and be a TEENAGER!!!

I'll stop there for a minute. My pastor did a sermon on being a teenager. And how we don't have true men and true women, because whether your little or grown, you want to be like a teenager. if your 5, you want to be a teen, if your 20-50 you want to be 'in' and 'cool' like a teenager. But thats sooo horrible!! Think about it. Are teenagers REALLY that smart?! I have known a lot of people that just don't get things. I [and I'm not trying to brag or be boastful] matured decently fast. I still have a TON to learn, but I do know a lot that most kids my age don't understand. My pastor talked about how before the word 'teenager' even evolved, you were little and wanted to be a grown up. And when you hit 13-14 you DID get married then and started having kids. The thing is, back then, you knew most everything you needed to know about raising a family. These days, it's not that way.

Back to getting older. When you are 15 you can't WAIT to be 16 and be able to DRIVE! Then your 17 kind of an odd year [I'm here right now] and want to be 18, so you can leave home and start your life, totally independent.

Now I know, when you are little, you just DON'T get it, it's not understandable, when people say "Don't wish your life away." But now that I'm 17 [going on 18 in May '09] I can't help but wish that I understood. I missed probably a lot by wishing I was older.

Now that I'm a senior in high school, there's a lot of thoughts crossing my mind. I know what I want to do with my life, and thats become a wife and mother. I want to stay at home with my kids, and homeschool and all that fun stuff. But I'm still thinking about college. I know it's a GREAT opportunity, but I'm thinking a lot about the money. If I would go to college for a 4 year program at BJU [where I plan to go to college if I DO end up going] I will have spent over $60,000. And I would be in debt when I graduated. I've been trying to think of ways where I could just go one or two years just to get the extra experience, but it's hard finding a one or two year program on something like, Family and Consumer Sciences. {something I could use being a mother}

Hmm...it's getting late so I should really turn in. But those are just a few thoughts. Just random and thrown together. Let me know what you think!!

Update

So I haven't posted since Friday...It's time for an update.





Saturday was my cousin Annie's bridal shower. I promised pictures so here they are...

^^This is a boquet of flowers my mom put together. She put them in a

mason jar that had a bow around the top.

^^This is the cake we had. My cousin Annie made the cake, and I made the bow...

^^This is the glass my Penny got for Annie as a bridal gift.

^^All the presents...

My cousin Annie^^

After the bridal shower, my mom and I went home and we left directly for Keystone Raceway to watch the jet cars. It was a really good show and then they had fireworks at the end. The fireworks were REALLY good and lasted about 1/2 an hour.

Sunday Pastor preached super super good messages about men.

Sunday at 6pm the Girl's Bible Study started back up. We met at the Church and we laid out blankets. It was a really good time and I'm looking forward to the weeks ahead!!

Yesterday not much went on. I cleaned my room a little more and my cousin Liz spent the night.

I think that's about all. In upcoming posts I'd like to try to have one every day. But that might not totally happen until school starts back up, and I have a little bit more of a set schedule.

Please vote on which topic you would like to hear about next week. We will have a Reader's Choice every Monday.

Thanks for reading!!!!

-Emily